Information systems: a cyborg discipline?

This paper argues for a model of information systems in terms of cyborgs – a boundary-crossing mixture of the technical and the social. The argument for this model is substantiated from the personal experience of the author, presented as examples of being a cyborg researcher within a disciplinary context. Lessons for information systems are drawn

Aviation Organization Strategy Development in National Airspace Modernization

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how small sub-directorates within larger organizations develop strategy to accomplish expansive legacy infrastructure re-engineering. There is significant, historical academic inquiry on Technological Transitions (TT)s with respect to infrastructure modernization; the conversion of the National Airspace System from ground-based to space-based navigation is an example of a TT. There are also studies on how to re-engineer legacy software systems to continue supporting organizational needs. This study is intended to explore a case of re-engineering the expansive legacy ground-based navigation system in the United States by efficiently reducing the size of the network and expanding then verifying signal coverage on over 4.5 million square miles. It is not a pure TT, nor a pure software re-engineering, but rather a large-scale re-engineering of a pre-existing hardware and software infrastructure. It constitutes a nationwide effort to re-design and expand the legacy ground-based navigation system developed over 70 years. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advised the public in 2011 that it intended to re-engineer and reduce the Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR) network from 896 stations down to 593 stations - to be defined as the Minimum Operational Network (MON). This reduction was based on the premise that two-thirds of the legacy VORs would be retained but their coverage expanded to cover twice the airspace within the US than the previous network. The FAA Flight Program Operations (FPO) is a small sub-directorate within the larger organization that is now responsible to validate signal coverage on several million square miles of additional airspace. Understanding how the FPO develops strategy and leverages technology to support this endeavor can provide a repeatable template for future, expansive, legacy infrastructure re-engineering efforts. This study discovered that the FPO developed and iteratively evolved strategy to accomplish the VOR MON using tribal knowledge, subject matter expertise and accepted business re-engineering practices. The template can be applied to other legacy infrastructure re-engineering efforts to support forthcoming TTs

The legacy problem in government agencies: an exploratory study

Government organizations continue to be heavily reliant on legacy systems to support their business-critical functions. When practitioners embark on legacy systems replacement projects, they tend to use the legacy software’s features as business requirements for its replacement application. This unnecessarily reproduces the business processes that have often emerged from the very technical limitations of the legacy system that is being phased out – a phenomenon referred to as the “legacy problem.” Public agencies are missing opportunities for innovation when they carry out legacy replacement projects in this conservative manner. Overcoming the legacy problem is “wickedly” difficult because of the complex interrelationships of information technology, organizational culture, and government agencies’ normative environments. This paper reports on the use of an online survey and qualitative interviews with practitioners in government agencies to explore the legacy problem. The data revealed that public agencies tend to regard legacy system replacement projects as a distinctly technical issue, and that they do not engage in systematic practices to ensure that unnecessary carryover of the business model embedded in legacy technology does not take place. As a result, legacy feature carryover occurs frequently, because practitioners want to minimize business process changes during new system implementation. The study findings single out the procurement of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) software as the most common approach to the replacement of legacy systems. When COTS packages are implemented, vendors (technology providers) shape the requirements discussion and the business analysis surrounding feature selection and customization. These study findings can be instrumental when devising solutions to assist agencies in dealing with the legacy problem

Perinnejärjestelmien määritys ja niiden ongelmat organisaatioissa

Tiivistelmä. Tietojärjestelmät ovat nykyaikaisten yritysten liiketoiminnan edellytys. Usein nämä liiketoiminnalle kriittiset järjestelmät on kehitetty kymmeniä vuosia sitten. Järjestelmille on tyypillistä niiden aiheuttamat ongelmat niin järjestelmän kehityksessä, ylläpidossa kuin itse organisaatioissa. Jotta järjestelmä vastaisi organisaation kasvavia liiketoimintavaatimuksia, on järjestelmää päivitetään jatkuvasti. Nämä toistuvat muutokset kuitenkin lisäävät kumulatiivisesti järjestelmän monimutkaisuutta. Tällaisia järjestelmiä kutsutaan perinnejärjestelmiksi. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten perinnejärjestelmä määritellään ja minkälaisia ongelmia se tuo eri organisaatioissa. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen pohjalta löydettiin neljä yhteinäistä perinnejärjestelmän ominaisuutta: Järjestelmä on joustamaton, kooltaan suuri, iältään vanha, ja sen täytyy olla liiketoiminnallisesti kriittinen järjestelmä. Perinnejärjestelmiä on vaikea, ja joissain tapauksissa jopa mahdontonta, jatkokehittää. Huono jatkokehitettävyys johtuu koodikannan laajuudesta ja huonosta dokumentaatiosta. Vuosien aikana järjestelmässä on työskennellyt usea eri ylläpitäjä käyttäen erilaisia ohjelmointimalleja ja käytänteitä. Kun tarvittavat yhdenmukaisuutta parantavat refaktoroinnit on jätetty tekemättä, on järjestelmässä ohjelmointikäytänteitä useilta eri vuosikymmeniltä. Dokumentaation puuttuessa tiettyjä toiminnallisuuksia on saatettu toistaa useisiin eri kohtiin lähdekoodissa, mikä entisestään huonontaa jatkokehitettävyyttä. Tutkielma on toteutettu systemaattisena kirjallisuuskatsauksena

VESTIGE OF THE PRESENT SOCIO-TECHNICAL FACTORS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LEGACY PERCEPTIONS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARTIFACTS

Legacy systems are formerly adequate incumbent information systems perceived as insufficient through a combination of social and technical factors. Legacy systems continue to be an expensive and challenging information technology asset for organizations to manage. However, much of the existing information systems literature does not focus on end-of-life information systems phenomena. This dissertation responds to this need for research on end-of-life information systems phenomena from a behavioral perspective by reviewing the information systems literature on legacy systems, developing a definition of legacy systems as a socio-technical construction, creating a scale for measuring a legacy perception of a system, and developing four additional scales for measuring the characteristics of information technology artifacts. New scales and statistical models were tested through a survey of IT managers in the United States.Findings from this research provide support for legacy perception as a new construct. Results also suggest that system age is not a key influencer of legacy perception, but system capability shortcomings and a lack of system support availability are key influences. This research also models interactions of the physical structures of legacy systems, finding that integration and complexity positively influence the adaptability of legacy system artifacts. As well as the adaptability of an artifact and state tracking abilities have a positive influence on representational fidelity. This study also finds that a legacy perception of a system positively influences both system investment behaviors and intentions to replace a system. Implications for theory and practice and opportunities for future research are discussed

Digital Government Systems: Tackling The Legacy Problem Through A Game-Based Approach To Business Requirements Analysis

Government agency reliance on legacy systems is problematic: they are costly to maintain, difficult to integrate with and they hinder innovation. However, the replacement of legacy systems is not a straightforward endeavor, and it often results in technology substitution that is not accompanied by business process change. The focus of this dissertation is on the phenomenon of legacy system replication wherein the requirements for applications replacing outdated technologies mimic legacy features and reflect status quo operational processes that have been historically shaped by the legacy system itself. This problem is referred to throughout the dissertation as the “legacy problem.” The dissertation investigates its roots and proposes an approach to overcome it. Specifically, a mixed method research approach is taken, including a survey of public sector practitioners to explore the extent of the legacy problem, and a series of semi-structured interviews with government information technology and management professionals to delve into the dynamics of legacy system replacement projects. Findings indicate that the legacy problem often stems from a lack of critical analysis of business requirements and the desire to minimize the risks associated with organizational change, which often result in missed opportunities for digital government innovation. As a consequence, the dissertation proposes a candidate approach to deal with the legacy problem in the development of a requirements game (RE-PROVO) which supports requirements discussions structured around the themes of legacy (or heritage) preservation and innovation. The game is evaluated by local government practitioners through several iterations and their feedback is analysed to gauge the potential utility of the approach. The results indicate that with a streamlined user interface and accentuated game elements RE-PROVO can be a valuable and effective tool for requirements analysis in legacy system replacement projects

Aviation organization strategy development in national airspace modernization

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how small sub-directorates within larger organizations develop strategy to accomplish expansive legacy infrastructure re-engineering. There is significant, historical academic inquiry on Technological Transitions (TT)s with respect to infrastructure modernization; the conversion of the National Airspace System from ground-based to space-based navigation is an example of a TT. There are also studies on how to re-engineer legacy software systems to continue supporting organizational needs. This study is intended to explore a case of re-engineering the expansive legacy ground-based navigation system in the United States by efficiently reducing the size of the network and expanding then verifying signal coverage on over 4.5 million square miles. It is not a pure TT, nor a pure software re-engineering, but rather a large-scale re-engineering of a pre-existing hardware and software infrastructure. It constitutes a nationwide effort to re-design and expand the legacy ground-based navigation system developed over 70 years. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advised the public in 2011 that it intended to re-engineer and reduce the Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR) network from 896 stations down to 593 stations - to be defined as the Minimum Operational Network (MON). This reduction was based on the premise that two-thirds of the legacy VORs would be retained but their coverage expanded to cover twice the airspace within the US than the previous network. The FAA Flight Program Operations (FPO) is a small sub-directorate within the larger organization that is now responsible to validate signal coverage on several million square miles of additional airspace. Understanding how the FPO develops strategy and leverages technology to support this endeavor can provide a repeatable template for future, expansive, legacy infrastructure re-engineering efforts. This study discovered that the FPO developed and iteratively evolved strategy to accomplish the VOR MON using tribal knowledge, subject matter expertise and accepted business re-engineering practices. The template can be applied to other legacy infrastructure re-engineering efforts to support forthcoming TTs

Organisational legacy and employee relations in UK shipbuilding

Shipbuilding on the River Clyde in Glasgow has long been a source of fascination for historians and social scientists alike, due to its connections to the industrial heritage of the city and the associations with the wider industrial legacy across the UK. In the 1970s, shipbuilding became synonymous with industrial action, with the events of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in gaining notoriety around the world as a display of successful workforce militancy, solidarity and defiance. This study offered the opportunity to gain an insight into this unique context from an organisational studies perspective, some fifty years on from the events of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders’ action. This study was undertaken to explore the impact of organisational memory on contemporary employee relations, to help understand the extent to which events of the past impact on the organisational present. This study also sought to investigate empirically the multiple factors at play within the contemporary employee relations environment. Theoretically, this study contributes to the conversation across a number of areas; firstly, it provides a contribution to the conceptualisation of organisational legacy. It also provides a contribution to the study of organisational memory, especially memory as a social construct. The recent literature on “organisational ghosts” suggests a need for more studies which investigate the concept to help understand the tangible role that the past can play in the organisational present; this study adds an additional perspective to this research. Through the theoretical lens of labour process theory, organisational legacy, memory and “organisational ghosts”, this research also examines the impacts of individualism and workforce differentiation and unpacks the complexities of employment in shipbuilding today. This research was conducted as a single case study, with a focus on qualitative data. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, and a researcher reflective diary. The data was thematically analysed, and theoretical contributions subsequently derived from the emergent themes. The findings contribute to the organisational legacy literature, detailing several significant components which impact on organisational legacy and memory: history, identity, storytelling and organizational spaces. The findings also contribute to the growing body of literature on organisational ghosts; exploring aspects of temporality and spatiality to help explain the ways in which the past, present and future interact in organisations. This study adds an additional perspective to the discussion on contemporary employment relations, outlining the changing role of trade unions, and the challenges presented by workforce division and differentiation. Finally, this thesis presents some implications for labour process theory, articulating the need for a more open debate about the future of work and sustainability of current work structures

Ingénierie et Architecture d’Entreprise et des Systèmes d’Information - Concepts, Fondements et Méthodes

L'ingénierie des systèmes d'information s'est longtemps cantonnée à la modélisation du produit (objet) qu'est le système d’information sans se préoccuper des processus d'usage de ce système. Dans un environnement de plus en plus évolutif, la modélisation du fonctionnement du système d’information au sein de l'entreprise me semble primordiale. Pendant les deux dernières décennies, les pratiques de management, d’ingénierie et d’opération ont subi des mutations profondes et multiformes. Nous devons tenir compte de ces mutations dans les recherches en ingénierie des systèmes d’information afin de produire des formalismes et des démarches méthodologiques qui sauront anticiper et satisfaire les nouveaux besoins, regroupés dans ce document sous quatre thèmes:1) Le système d’information est le lieu même où s’élabore la coordination des actes et des informations sans laquelle une entreprise (et toute organisation), dans la diversité des métiers et des compétences qu’elle met en œuvre, ne peut exister que dans la médiocrité. La compréhension des exigences de coopération dans toutes ses dimensions (communication, coordination, collaboration) et le support que l’informatique peut et doit y apporter deviennent donc un sujet digne d’intérêt pour les recherches en système d’information.2) Le paradigme de management des processus d’entreprise (BPM) est en forte opposition avec le développement traditionnel des systèmes d’information qui, pendant plusieurs décennies, a cristallisé la division verticale des activités des organisations et favorisé ainsi la construction d’îlots d’information et d’applications. Cependant, les approches traditionnelles de modélisation de processus ne sont pas à la hauteur des besoins d’ingénierie des processus dans ce contexte en constant changement, que ce dernier soit de nature contextuelle ou permanente. Nous avons donc besoin de formalismes (i) qui permettent non seulement de représenter les processus d’entreprise et leurs liens avec les composants logiciels du système existant ou à venir mais (ii) qui ont aussi l’aptitude à représenter la nature variable et/ou évolutive (donc parfois éminemment décisionnelle) de ces processus.3) Les systèmes d’information continuent aujourd’hui de supporter les besoins classiques tels que l’automatisation et la coordination de la chaîne de production, l’amélioration de la qualité des produits et/ou services offerts. Cependant un nouveau rôle leur est attribué. Il s’agit du potentiel offert par les systèmes d’information pour adopter un rôle de support au service de la stratégie de l’entreprise. Les technologies de l’information, de la communication et de la connaissance se sont ainsi positionnées comme une ressource stratégique, support de la transformation organisationnelle voire comme levier du changement. Les modèles d’entreprise peuvent représenter l’état actuel de l’organisation afin de comprendre, de disposer d’une représentation partagée, de mesurer les performances, et éventuellement d’identifier les dysfonctionnements. Ils permettent aussi de représenter un état futur souhaité afin de définir une cible vers laquelle avancer par la mise en œuvre des projets. L’entreprise étant en mouvement perpétuel, son évolution fait partie de ses multiples dimensions. Nous avons donc besoin de représenter, a minima, un état futur et le chemin de transformation à construire pour avancer vers cette cible. Cependant planifier/imaginer/se projeter vers une cible unique et, en supposant que l’on y arrive, croire qu’il puisse exister un seul chemin pour l’atteindre semble irréaliste. Nous devons donc proposer des formalismes qui permettront de spécifier des scenarii à la fois pour des cibles à atteindre et pour des chemins à parcourir. Nous devons aussi développer des démarches méthodologiques pour guider de manière systématique la construction de ces modèles d’entreprise et la rationalité sous-jacente.4) En moins de cinquante ans, le propos du système d’information a évolué et s’est complexifié. Aujourd’hui, le système d’information doit supporter non seulement les fonctions de support de manière isolée et en silos (1970-1990), et les activités appartenant à la chaîne de valeur [Porter, 1985] de l’entreprise (1980-2000) mais aussi les activités de contrôle, de pilotage, de planification stratégique ainsi que la cohérence et l’harmonie de l’ensemble des processus liés aux activités métier (2000-201x), en un mot les activités de management stratégique et de gouvernance d’entreprise. La gouvernance d'entreprise est l'ensemble des processus, réglementations, lois et institutions influant la manière dont l'entreprise est dirigée, administrée et contrôlée. Ces processus qui produisent des ‘décisions’ en guise de ‘produit’ ont autant besoin d’être instrumentalisés par les systèmes d’information que les processus de nature plus opérationnels de l’entreprise. De même, ces processus stratégiques (dits aussi ‘de développement’) nécessitent d’avoir recours à des formalismes de représentation qui sont très loin, en pouvoir d’expression, des notations largement adoptées ces dernières années pour la représentation des processus d’entreprise.Ainsi, il semble peu judicieux de vouloir (ou penser pouvoir) isoler, pendant sa construction, l’objet “système d’information” de son environnement d’exécution. Si le sens donné à l’information dépend de la personne qui la reçoit, ce sens ne peut être entièrement capturé dans le système technique. Il sera plutôt appréhendé comme une composante essentielle d’un système socio-technique incluant les usagers du système d’information technologisé, autrement dit, les acteurs agissant de l’entreprise. De mon point de vue, ce système socio-technique qui mérite l’intérêt scientifique de notre discipline est l’entreprise. Les recherches que j’ai réalisées, animées ou supervisées , et qui sont structurées en quatre thèmes dans ce document, visent à résoudre les problèmes liés aux contextes de l'usage (l'entreprise et son environnement) des systèmes d’information. Le point discriminant de ma recherche est l'intérêt que je porte à la capacité de représentation :(i) de l'évolutivité et de la flexibilité des processus d'entreprise en particulier de ceux supportés par un système logiciel, d’un point de vue microscopique (modèle d’un processus) et macroscopique (représentation et configuration d’un réseau de processus) : thème 2(ii) du système d’entreprise dans toutes ses dimensions (stratégie, organisation des processus, système d’information et changement) : thème 3Pour composer avec ces motivations, il fallait :(iii) s’intéresser à la nature même du travail coopératif et à l’intentionnalité des acteurs agissant afin d’identifier et/ou proposer des formalismes appropriés pour les décrire et les comprendre : thème 1(iv) se questionner aussi sur les processus de management dont le rôle est de surveiller, mesurer, piloter l’entreprise afin de leur apporter le soutien qu’ils méritent du système d’information : thème

A Perspective of Legacy Information Systems - A Case Study of the PUC „Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage“ Model

Након стављања информационог система у употребу започиње процес старења софтвера, који временом доводи до нарушавања његове структуре па се спроводи одржавање, које има за циљ да уклони одређене грешке и побољша његове перформансе. Како информациони систем има потребу да еволуира заједно са окружењем у којем функционише, тако процеси одржавања такође имају за циљ и да прилагоде систем да буде у складу са променама. У једном тренутку потребно је да се спроведу промене јачег интензитета него што је одржавање, познатије као модернизација да би се повратила еволутивна способност информационог система. Наслеђени системи се одликују смањеном еволутивном способношћу, дуго су употреби и тешки за промену, најчешће су настали у старим технологијама, при чему је процес њиховог одржавања тежак за све оне који га одржавају и развијају, а наведени процес је истовремно скуп за предузеће. Са једне стране они ограничавају пословање, јер не дозвољавају једноставне измене, док са друге садрже вредна вишедецнијска знања и пословна правила која су формализована и на које се предузеће ослања приликом обављања дневних операција. У теорији постоји велики број дефиниција наслеђених система, улажу се огромна средства у њихово одржавање и постоји велики број неуспелих пројекта модернизације и поред значајних инвестиција. Наведене чињенице указују да су наслеђени системи комлексан феномен, недовољно схваћен, а да је велики број неуспелих пројеката модернизације у директној вези са њиховим неразумевањем, односно њиховим изолованим посматрањем. Дисертација има циљ да сагледа наслеђене информационе системе свеобухватно из различтих перспектива: развојне, оперативне, организационе и стратешке. Такав начин посматрања наслеђених системе води ка њиховом бољем схватању, као и могућности да се процес модернизације усмери у одређеном правцу. Дат је теоријски оквир који инкорпорира све напред наведене перспективе, а уједно је и презентован кроз студију случаја ЈКП „Београдски водовод и канализација“, а након тога евалуиран на водоводним предузећима у Србији и региону. Резултати истраживања су потврдили да оквир може да се користи као алат за евалуацију наслеђених система. На основи свих резултата, дат је предлог модернизационе стратегије која треба да реши проблеме наслеђених система идентификованих у свим перспективама на случају ЈКП „Београдски водовод и канализација“.Nakon stavljanja informacionog sistema u upotrebu započinje proces starenja softvera, koji vremenom dovodi do narušavanja njegove strukture pa se sprovodi održavanje, koje ima za cilj da ukloni određene greške i poboljša njegove performanse. Kako informacioni sistem ima potrebu da evoluira zajedno sa okruženjem u kojem funkcioniše, tako procesi održavanja takođe imaju za cilj i da prilagode sistem da bude u skladu sa promenama. U jednom trenutku potrebno je da se sprovedu promene jačeg intenziteta nego što je održavanje, poznatije kao modernizacija da bi se povratila evolutivna sposobnost informacionog sistema. Nasleđeni sistemi se odlikuju smanjenom evolutivnom sposobnošću, dugo su upotrebi i teški za promenu, najčešće su nastali u starim tehnologijama, pri čemu je proces njihovog održavanja težak za sve one koji ga održavaju i razvijaju, a navedeni proces je istovremno skup za preduzeće. Sa jedne strane oni ograničavaju poslovanje, jer ne dozvoljavaju jednostavne izmene, dok sa druge sadrže vredna višedecnijska znanja i poslovna pravila koja su formalizovana i na koje se preduzeće oslanja prilikom obavljanja dnevnih operacija. U teoriji postoji veliki broj definicija nasleđenih sistema, ulažu se ogromna sredstva u njihovo održavanje i postoji veliki broj neuspelih projekta modernizacije i pored značajnih investicija. Navedene činjenice ukazuju da su nasleđeni sistemi komleksan fenomen, nedovoljno shvaćen, a da je veliki broj neuspelih projekata modernizacije u direktnoj vezi sa njihovim nerazumevanjem, odnosno njihovim izolovanim posmatranjem. Disertacija ima cilj da sagleda nasleđene informacione sisteme sveobuhvatno iz različtih perspektiva: razvojne, operativne, organizacione i strateške. Takav način posmatranja nasleđenih sisteme vodi ka njihovom boljem shvatanju, kao i mogućnosti da se proces modernizacije usmeri u određenom pravcu. Dat je teorijski okvir koji inkorporira sve napred navedene perspektive, a ujedno je i prezentovan kroz studiju slučaja JKP „Beogradski vodovod i kanalizacija“, a nakon toga evaluiran na vodovodnim preduzećima u Srbiji i regionu. Rezultati istraživanja su potvrdili da okvir može da se koristi kao alat za evaluaciju nasleđenih sistema. Na osnovi svih rezultata, dat je predlog modernizacione strategije koja treba da reši probleme nasleđenih sistema identifikovanih u svim perspektivama na slučaju JKP „Beogradski vodovod i kanalizacija“.After putting the information system into use, the aging process of the software begins, which over time leads to the disruption of its structure, so maintenance is carried out, which aims to eliminate certain errors and improve its performance. As the information system needs to evolve along with the environment in which it operates, so maintenance processes also aim to adapt the system to change. At some point, changes of greater intensity than maintenance, better known as modernization, are needed to restore the evolutionary capability of the information system. Legacy systems are characterized by reduced evolutionary ability, are long in use and difficult to change, most often originated in old technologies, and the process of their maintenance is difficult for all those who maintain and develop it, and this process is expensive for the company. On the one hand, they limit business, because they do not allow simple changes, while on the other hand, they contain valuable decades of knowledge and business rules that are formalized and that the company relies on when performing daily operations. In theory, there are a large number of definitions of legacy systems, huge funds are invested in their maintenance and there are a large number of failed modernization projects despite significant investments. These facts indicate that legacy systems are a complex phenomenon, insufficiently understood and that a large number of failed modernization projects are directly related to their misunderstanding, ie their isolated observation. The dissertation aims to look at legacy information systems comprehensively from different perspectives: developmental, operational, organizational and strategic. Such a way of observing legacy systems leads to a better understanding of them, as well as the possibility of directing the process of modernization. A theoretical framework is given that incorporates all the above perspectives, and is also presented through a case study of PUC "Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage", and then evaluated at water companies in Serbia and the region. The results of the research confirmed that the framework can be used as a tool for the evaluation of inherited systems. Based on all the results, a proposal for a modernization strategy is given, which should solve the problems of legacy systems identified in all perspectives in the case of PUC "Belgrade Waterworks and Sewerage"